Nvidia explain the benefits of their G-Sync HDR technology

Nvidia explain the benefits of their G-Sync HDR technology

Nvidia explain the benefits of their G-Sync HDR technology

If there is one phrase that can summarise a large portion of CES 2017 it would be HDR, be with Nvidia's G-Sync HDR, AMD's FreeSync 2 or any of the seemingly countless display manufacturers that are now adopting high dynamic range support.

Today Nvidia has released a new video which details exactly how HDR displays enhance picture quality and the potential realism of future games. Nvidia is adopting the HDR standard with G-Sync HDR, meeting the HDR10 standard with a variable backlight and a colour space that is 25% wider than sRGB.

In Q2 2017 Nvidia plans to release G-Sync HDR displays to the market, starting off with 4K 144Hz models from ACER and ASUS, both of which feature dynamically controlled backlighting across 384 zones, to enable ultra-high contrast and richer, more natural-looking dark scenes.

These G-SYNC HDR monitors also come with support for HDR10 – the HDR format being adopted for PC gaming. And in partnership with your favorite developers, NVIDIA is getting upcoming and already-released games ready for the launch of G-SYNC HDR, such as Mass Effect: Andromeda and Shadow Warrior 2. These games are brighter, more vibrant, and even more impressive and beautiful than they already were, and in Mass Effect Andromeda nebulae will take your breath away.

What HDR enables if for displays to offer both remarkably bright images and the deepest of blacks in the same scene, offering unparalleled levels of contrast. This means that dark areas beside bright areas will look great, neither washing out the colours of bright areas or making dark areas lose detail or fading into a single shade of grey.

HDR displays are able to show users a lot more detail, though sadly this is almost impossible to showcase on a standard SDR display, though thankfully Nvidia has produced the images below to showcase exactly how HDR can affect an image.

In the images below we see brighter colours with HDR while also seeing darker blacks, with no detail being lost in high contrast areas. This is most visible in the clouds above the city or where the cities bright lights/windows appear in otherwise darkened areas.

G-Sync HDR contains the same variable refresh rate technology as their predecessors, though this new standard utilises DisplayPort 1.3/1.4 in order to deliver HDR content, which adds greatly to display bandwidth requirements. Hopefully, we will also be seeing G-Sync HDR 1440p and 1080p panels in 2017, as if this technology is exclusive to 4K displays it will command an insane price premium.

Right now this display is expected sometime in Q2 2017, with many expecting a price of around $2000 for ASUS' 4K 144Hz G-Sync HDR ROG Swift PG27UQ.

Most Recent Comments

G-Sync HDR monitors are going to be very expensive, I'd hazard a guess that they will be more expensive than current G-Sync monitors and they will probably live side by side as not everyone wants to shell out a kidney for slightly better colours and if suddenly only the super expensive HDR G-Sync monitors are available well then people may end up looking at alternatives.Quote

G-Sync HDR monitors are going to be very expensive, I'd hazard a guess that they will be more expensive than current G-Sync monitors and they will probably live side by side as not everyone wants to shell out a kidney for slightly better colours and if suddenly only the super expensive HDR G-Sync monitors are available well then people may end up looking at alternatives.

Yeah, it will be the same as FreeSync 2, not a replacement for the original but a brand name to show that it has greater capabilities.Quote

So for the image Nvidia used to try and show the difference between HDR and SDR I have to say I kinda prefer the SDR image because to me the image just looks like it should have a darker color pallet and I feel as though the contrast in HDR ruins it.
Is that to say I am not excited for HDR? No I am and I would probably buy an HDR monitor if it was reasonably priced, though first I think I would have to upgrade my GPU because I don't think the 390 has the right ports to support HDR content.Quote

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